Sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged type



' Dec. 9, 1958 E. L. STROUP 2,863,503

SECTIONAL DOOR OF THE VERTICALLY OPENING HORIZONTALLY HINGED TYPE FiledAug. 2'7, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

fizzy f 5- 5 ffyf/ 4. 57/0640 Dec. 9, 1958 E. STROUP 2,363,503

SECTIONAL DOOR OF THE VERTICALLY OPENING HORIZONTALLY HINGED TYPE FiledAug. 27, 1956 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 INVENTOR.

////a/Wa Dec. 9, 1958 E ROUP 2,863,503

SECTIONAL DOOR-0F. VERT LLY OPENING HORIZONTALLY HINGE. YPE

Filed Aug. 27, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent t ir SECTIONAL DOOR OF THE VERTICALLY OPEN- INGHGRIZONTALLY HINGED TYPE Earl L. Stroup, Hartford City, Ind., as'signorto ()verhead Door Corporation, Hartford City, Ind.

Application August 27, 1956, Serial No. 606,442 10 Claims. (Cl. 160-201)This invention relates to improvements in sectional doors of thevertically opening horizontally hinged type. The principal objects ofthis invention are:

First, to provide a type of door construction which will permit amanufacturer of horizontally hinged sectional doors to supply doorshaving a wide variety of decorative appearances with a minimum offorming equipment.

Second, to provide a sectional door structure in which a minimum ofinterchangeable parts are connected into a rigid door section to permiteasy change of the decorative appearance of the door section bysubstitution of sections of different decorative design.

Third, to provide a door section assembled entirely from rolled sheetmetal parts so that the parts of the door can be economically producedby a continuous rolling process.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following description and claims. The drawings, ofwhich there are three sheets, illustrate a highly practical form of thedoor structure in three decorative design arrangements.

Fig; l is a front elevational view of a horizontally hinged verticallyopening door embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary inside elevational view of the doorshown in Fig. 1.

Fig; 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view taken along theplane of the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the type of elements which goto make up one of the door sections.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal cross sectional view through theedgeof the door section taken along the plane of the line 5-5 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective exploded view of a door sectionincorporating a modified artistic design.

Fig. 7 is a conventionally illustrated perspective view of a furthermodified artistic design for one of the elements of the door section.

Manufacturers of horizontally hinged vertically opening sectional doorshave been confronted for a considerable time by the problem ofdiversifying the exterior appearance of their product. Doors of thistype have experienced increasing popularity but due to the necessity ofmass production and the relatively high cost of manufacturing equipment,the doors of each manufacturer have had to. embody a single decorativeappearance as determined by the dies and forming equipment of themanufacturer. The result has been that the doors in adjacent houses. ofa neighborhood are of identical appearance and sometimes do not blendwell with the architecture of,

different houses all of which is objectionable to the home owners whopurchase the doors. The present invention permits a single manufacturerto economically produce doors for different artistic designs which canbe varied almost infinitely to suit the individual desires of ditferentpurchasers.

The drawings illustrate a portion of building 1 having a doorway 2 suchas. is commonly found in garages. The

'minal strips 13.

.forhingedly connecting the door sections.

hinged door having a plurality of door sections 3 and 3A- joined alongjoint lines 4. The door sections may be solid or may have windowopenings therein as at 5 and the surface contour and appearance of thedoor sections may be economically varied as will be described in greaterdetail.

For the purpose of differentiating between the inner and outer surfacesof the door sections and the various edges of the elements of the doorsections the terms inner and outer will be used with respect to thecorresponding sides of the door as it is observed from the inside andoutside of the building. The terms interior and exterior will be used todescribe the appropriate edges of the door sections as they are observedin the plane of the door from the edges thereof. Each door section 3 or3A consists generally of an upper rail 6 and a lower rail 7 mounted onthe exterior edges of a center panel 8. The parts 6, '7 and 8 are ofrolled sheet metal construction having uniform cross section from end toend so that they can be formed from continuous strips of material byeconomical rolling methods.

The rails 6 and 7 have flat planar faces 9 with exterior flanges 10 ofangled shape to provide complementary rabbeted joints when two doorsections are brought into abutting engagement. The interior flanges 11of the rails 6 and 7 have stiffening ribs 12 extending longitudinallytherealong. The inner edges of the flanges 10 and 11 are provided withinteriorly turned terminal strips 13 that are coplanar when assembledinto the door section.

The center panel 8 has inwardly turned upper and lower flanges 14 and 15that are complemental in cross section to the interior flanges 11 on therails to nest thereagainst and against the outer sides of the interiorterminal strips 13. At the outer edges of the flanges 14 and 15 thecenter panels are provided with upper and lower face strips 16 that arecoplanar with the outer surfaces of the rails and which have inwardlyoffset shoulders 17 depressed inwardly from the outer surface of thedoor by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the sheetmetal. Between the shoulders 17 the center panels 8 have center portionsthat can be variously shaped with different elements of stiffening anddecorative ribs 18 as will be described in greater detail presently.

In order to vertically stiffen the door sections each center panel 8 hasa plurality of sheet metal stiles 19 secured to its inner surface at theends and at other positions intermediate of its ends depending upon thewidth of the door. The stiles 19 are of sheet metal construction havinga channel shaped cross section with laterally outwardly turned flanges20 along their edges. The depth of the channel section of the stiles issuch that the outer surface of the Web abuts the inner surface of thecentral portion of the center panel with the stile flanges 20 abuttedagainst the outer surfaces of the ter- The rails stiles and the centerpanel are permanently and rigidly connected by hinge leaves 21 and 22.The hinge leaves 21 and 22 are generally flat sheet metal stampingshaving stilf ribs 23 formed therein and are welded as at 24 and 25 tothe insides of the terminal stripes on the rails with the welds 25extending through the side flanges 20 of the stiles. The exterior edgesof the hinge plates 21 and 22 have hinge knuckles 26 formed thereon inthe plane of the exterior edge of the adjacent rail and the knuckles onadjacent door sections interfit to receive the hinge pins 27 Some of thehinge plates 21 along the sides of the doors have ears 128 struckinwardly therefrom to support thebearing At the ends of the doorsections where the ribbed shape of the center panels 8 would leave voidsor openings along the door jamb there are provided closure strips 30that are secured to the ends of the shoulders 17 as by the screws 31.The closure strips 30 are thus flush with the outer surfaces of therails 6 and 7 and the face strips 16 of the center panel. The closurestrips 30 have inwardly turned flanges 32 conformed to the shape of therib center portion 18 of the center panel to close the spaces formed bythe ribs in the center panel.

The structural and mechanical connections of the elements of the doorsection are uniform in all doors but the construction is capable of awide variety of artistic designs as will be apparent from a comparisonof Figs.

4, 6 and 7. The rails 6 and 7 may be of identical shape in all doorsections although this is not necessarily so as long as the interiorflanges 11 and exterior flanges retain the same shape to beinterchangeable with other rail sections. The center panel 8 may have avariety of cross sectional shapes such as the single wide ribs shape 18in Fig. 4 or the multiple narrow ribbed section 18A in Fig. 6 or theentirely flush center panel 18B in Fig. 7. By providing a relativelysmall number of different sets of rolling dies for the center panel 8the manufacturer can provide different artistic arrangements for thedoor sections and door sections of different designs can be combined invarious combinations in a single door.

The exterior appearance of the door sections can further be widelyvaried by the mounting of plaques 33 against the shoulders 17 on thecenter panels as is shown in Fig.6. Again a relatively small number ofplaques 33 having different surface configurations 34 can be applied ina wide variety of combinations to different center panels to furtherindividualize and distinguish the appearance of different doors.Regardless of the decorative design of the several elements selected forcombination into a given door or door section the connecting elementsand procedures are uniform in all doors so that the assembly can becarried out under mass production procedures at an economical cost.

- The plaques 33 besides changing the appearance of the door function toreinforce the door by bridging the decorative ribs in the center panelsand in effect making a box section on portions of the center panels.

The appearance of the sections and doors generally is important becausemore and more houses are being built with this type of door installed ina wall facing to the front of the house and it is important to have thedoor harmonize with the design of the house.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and isdesired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal having planar.center panels withexterior flanges of complementary angled section andhaving interiorly turned terminal strips on their inner edges, interiorflanges on said rails having angled ribs extending longitudinallytherealong and having other ter minal strips on their inner edges turnedinteriorly of the door section in the plane of said first terminalstrips, an integral center panel of rolled sheet metal positioned between said rails having inwardly turned flanges complementary to theinterior flanges on the rails and having upper and lower face stripsflush with the faces of said rails, said center panel having inwardlyoflset shoulders along the interior edges of said face strips andstiffening and decorative ribs rolled along the length of its centerportion, channel shaped stiles positioned between the inturned flangesof said center panel with the web of the channel abutting the innersides of said stiffening and decorative ribs and having laterallyoutwardly turned side flanges lapped behind and welded to the interiorlyturned interior terminal strips on said rails, decorative plates seatedagainst said shoulders on the outer side of said center panel andextending therebetween, hinge plates welded to the terminal strips onsaid rails and extending thereacross and welded through said otherterminal strips to the ends of said stiles, the exterior edges of thehinge plates having knuckles thereon in the plane of the inner edges ofthe exterior flanges of said rails, hinge pins connecting the knucklesof adjacent hinge plates of said sections, and ears struck inwardly onsome of said hinge plates to support roller axles at the sides of saidsections, and filler strips secured at their ends to said shoulders onsaid center panels and having inturned closure flanges conformed attheir inner edges to the contour of the center portions of said centerpanels.

2. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal having planarcenter panels with exterior flanges of complementary angled section andhaving interiorly turned terminal strips on their inner edges, interiorflanges on said rails having angled ribs extending longitudinallytherealong and having other terminal strips on their inner edges turnedinteriorly of the door section in the plane of said first terminalstrips, an integral center panel of rolled sheet metal positionedbetween said rails having inwardly turned flanges complementary to theinterior flanges on the rails and having upper and lower face stripsflush with the faces of said rails, said center panel having inwardlyoffset shoulders along the interior edges of said face strips andstiffening and decorative ribs rolled along the length of its centerportion, channel shaped stiles positioned between the inturned flangesof said center panel and having laterally outwardly turned side flangeslapped behind and welded to the interiorly turned interior terminalstrips on said rails, hinge plates welded to the terminal strips on saidrails and extending thereacross and welded through said other terminalstrips to the ends of said stiles, the exterior edges of the hingeplates having knuckles thereon in the plane of the inner edges of theexterior flanges of said rails, hinge pins connecting the knuckles ofadjacent hinge plates of said sections, and ears projecting inwardly onsome of said hinge plates to support roller axles at the sides of saidsections, and filler strips secured at their ends to said shoulders onsaid center panels and having inturned closure flanges conformed attheir inner edges to the contour of the center portions of said centerpanels.

3. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal having centerpanels with exterior flanges of complementary angled section and havinginteriorly turned terminal strips on their inner edges, interior flangeson said rails having angled ribs extending longitudinally therealong andhaving other terminal strips on their inner edges turned interiorly ofthe door section in the plane of said first terminal strips, an integralcenter panel of rolled sheet metal positioned between said rails havinginwardly turned flanges complementary to the interior flanges 0n therails and having upper and lower face strips, said center panel havinginwardly offset shoulders along the interior edges of said face stripsand stiffening and decorative ribs rolled along the length of its centerportion, channel shaped stiles positioned between the inturned flangesof said center panel and having laterally turned inner flanges lappedbehind and welded to the interiorly turned interior terminal strips onsaid rails, hinge plates welded to the terminal strips on said rails andextending thereacross and welded through said other terminal strips tothe ends of said stiles, the exterior edges of the hinge plates havingknuckles thereon in the plane of the inner edges of the exterior flangesof said rails, hinge pins connecting the knuckles of adjacent hingeplates of said sections, ears projecting inwardly on some of said, hingeplates to support roller axles at the sides of said sections, and fillerstrips secured at their ends to said center panels and having inturnedclosure flanges conformed at their inner edges to the contour of thecenter portions of said center panels.

4. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal with exteriorflanges of complementary angled section and having interiorly turnedterminal strips on their inner edges, interior flanges on said railshaving angled ribs extending longitudinally therealong and having otherterminal strips on their inner edges turned interiorly of the doorsection in the plane of said first terminal strips, an integral centerpanel of rolled sheet metal positioned between said rails and havinginwardly turned flanges complementary to the ribs on the interiorflanges on the rails, said center panel having stifiening and decorativeribs rolled along the length of its center portion, channel shapedstiles positioned between the inturned flanges of said center panel withthe outside of the channel abutting the inner sides of said stifieningand decorative ribs and the inside of the stile lapped behind and weldedto the interiorly turned interior terminal strips on said rails, adecorative plate on the outer side of said center panel, hinge plateswelded to the terminal strips on said rails and extending thereacrossand welded through said other terminal strips to the ends of saidstiles, the exterior edges of the hinge plates having knuckles thereonin the plane of the inner edges of the exterior flanges of said rails,hinge pins connecting the knuckles of adjacent hinge plates of saidsections, ears on some of said hinge plates to support roller axles atthe sides of said sections, and filler strips secured to said centerpanels and conformed at their inner edges to the contour of the centerportions of said center panels.

5. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails with exterior flanges of complementaryangled section and having interiorly turned terminal strips on theirinner edges, interior flanges on said rails having angled ribs extendinglongitudinally therealong and having other terminal strips on theirinner edges turned in the plane of said first terminal strips, anintegral center panel positioned between said rails having inwardlyturned flanges complementary to the ribs on the interior flanges on therails, said center panel having stiflening and decorative ribs along thelength of its center portion, stiles positioned between the inturnedflanges of said center panel with the outside of the stile abutting theinner sides of said stiffening and decorative ribs, decorative plates onthe outer side of said center panel, hinge plates secured to theterminal strips on said rails and extending thereacross and secured tothe ends of said stiles, the exterior edges of the hinge plates havingknuckles thereon in the plane of the inner edges of the exterior flangesof said rails, hinge pins connecting the knuckles of adjacent hingeplates of said sections, ears on some of said hinge plates to supportroller axles at the sides of said sections, and filler strips secured tosaid center panels and conformed at their inner edges to the contour ofthe center portions of said center panels, said rails and integralcenter panel having uniform cross section from end to end.

6. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal with exteriorflanges of complementary angled section and having interiorly turnedterminal strips on their inner edges, interior flanges on said railshaving other terminal strips on their inner edges turned in the plane ofsaid first terminal strips, an integral center panel of rolled sheetmetal positioned between said rails having inwardly turned flanges, saidcenter panel haying stiffening and decorative ribs rolled along thelength of its center portion, stiles positioned between the inturnedflanges of said center panel with the outside of the stile abutting theinner sides of said stiffening and decorative ribs, hinge plates weldedto the terminal strips on said rails and extending thereacross andwelded to the ends of said stiles, the exterior edges of the hingeplates having knuckles thereon in the plane of the inner edges of theexterior flanges of said rails, hinge pins connecting the knuckles ofadjacent hinge plates of said sections, ears on some of said hingeplates to support roller axles at the sides of said sections, and fillerstrips secured to said center panels and conformed at their inner edgesto the contour of the center portions of said center panels.

7. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal having exteriorflanges of complementary angled section and having interiorly turnedterminal strips on their inner edges, interior flanges on said railshaving, other terminal strips on their inner edges turned interiorly ofthe door section in the plane of said first terminal strips, an integralcenter panel of rolled sheet metal positioned between said rails havinginwardly turned flanges complementary to the interior flanges on therails and having upper and lower face strips, said center panel havinginwardly offset shoulders along the interior edges of said face stripsand stiflening and decorative ribs rolled along the'length of its centerportion,

metal stiles positioned between the inturned flanges of said centerpanel and having laterally turned inner flanges lapped behind and weldedto the interiorly turned interior terminal strips on said rails, hingeplates welded to the terminal strips on said rails and extendingthereacross and welded through said other terminal strips to the ends ofsaid stiles, the exterior edges of the hinge plates having knucklesthereon in the plane of the inner edges of the exterior flanges of saidrails, hinge pins connecting the knuckles of adjacent hinge plates ofsaid sections, ears projecting inwardly on some of said hing-e plates tosupport roller axles at the sides of said sections, and filler stripssecured to the ends of said center panels and having inturned closureflanges conformed at their inner edges to the contour of the centerportion of said center panels.

8. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails having exterior flanges of complementaryangled section and having interiorly turned terminal strips on theirinner edges, interior flanges on said rails having other terminal stripson their inner edges in the plane of said first terminal strips, anintegral center panel positioned between said rails having inwardlyturned flanges complementary to the interior flanges on the rails, saidcenter panel having stiffening and decorative ribs along the length ofits center portion, metal stiles positioned between the inturned flangesof said center panel and having laterally turned inner flanges, hingeplates secured to the terminal strips on said rails and extendingthereacross and secured to the ends of said stiles, the exterior edgesof the hinge plates having knuckles thereon in the plane of the inneredges of the exterior flanges of said rails, hinge pins connecting theknuckles of adjacent hinge plates of said sections, ears projectinginwardly on some of said hinge plates to support roller axles at thesides of said sections, and filler strips secured to the ends of saidcenter panels and conformed at their inner edges to the contour of thecenter portion of said center panels, said rails and center panel havinguniform cross sections from end to end.

9. A sectional door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails of rolled sheet metal having exteriorflanges of complementary angled section and having interiorly turnedterminal strips on their inner edges, interior flanges on said railshaving other terminal strips on their inner edges in the plane of saidfirst terminal strips, an integral center panel of rolled sheet metalpositioned between said rails having inwardly turned flangescomplementary to the interior flanges on the rails, said center panelhaving inwardly offset shoulders adjacent its upper and lower edges anda stiffening and decorative rib rolled along the length of its centerportion, a plaque secured at its upper and lower edges to said shouldersand extending across the rib of the center portion to stiffen the centerpanel and alter its exterior appearance, metal stiles positioned betweenthe inturned flanges of said center panel and having laterally turnedinner flanges, hinge plates secured to the terminal strips on said railsand extending thereacross and secured to the ends of said Stiles, theexterior edges of the hinge plates having knuckles thereon in the planeof the inner edges of the exterior flanges of said rails, hinge pinsconnecting the knucklesof adjacent hinge plates of said sections, andfiller strips secured to the ends of said center panels and conformed attheir inner edges to the contour of the center portion of said centerpanels.

10. A sectional. door of the vertically opening horizontally hinged typecomprising a plurality of horizontally elongated sections, each sectionincluding upper and lower rails having exterior flanges of complementaryangled section and having interiorly turned terminal strips on theirinner edges, interior flanges on said rails having other terminal stripson their inner edges in the plane of said first terminal strips, anintegral center panel positioned between said rails having inwardlyturned flanges complementary to the interior flanges on the rails, saidcenter panel having inwardly oilset shoulders adjacent its upper andlower edges and stifi'ening and decorative ribs along the length of itscenter portion, a plaque secured at its upper and lower edges to saidshoulders and extending across the ribs of the center portion to stiffenthe center panel and alter its exterior appearance, metal stilespositioned between the inturned flanges of said center panel and havinglaterally turned inner flanges, hinge plates secured to the terminalstrips on said rails and extending thereacross and secured to the endsof said stiles, the exterior edges of the hinge plates having knucklesthereon in the plane of the inner edges of the exterior flanges of saidrails, hinge pins connecting the knuckles of adjacent hinge plates ofsaid sections, and filler strips secured to the ends of said centerpanels and conformed at their inner edges to the contour of the centerportion of said center panels, said rails and said center panel havinguniform cross section from end to end.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES 'PATENTS809,145 Sjobning Jan. 2, 1906 1,376,607 Clarin May 3, 1921 1,395,766Phillips Nov. 1, 1921 1,451,353 Waldman Apr. 10, 1923 1,996,004 FraserMar. 26, 1935 2,061,304 Graham Nov. 17, 1936 2,557,753 Mitchell June 19,1951 2,575,255 Blodgett NOV. 13, 1951

